I wouldn't exactly call 6700 a downgrade from the previous generation. It's heavier and more mechanical feeling, doesn't have that beautiful swiss watch lightness, but I think it is more accurate and you don't seem to get the hangup/partial shift that you sometimes got with the old system. And I think the hoods are more comfortable.

I have one bike of each and I don't really find one better than the other, they're just different.

Haven't tried 6700 but was very unimpressed with the 5700 on my wife's bike. Thought it was a big step back from the 5600 I had on my old bike. On the plus side, 5700 doesn't seem to eat RD cables like 5600 did.

I work with the stuff on a daily basis. 7900/6700/5700 is a substantial backward step.

My own good roadie is fitted with 6600 Ultegra with the Teflon cables of the later series; it wipes the floor with the 2nd-gen 10-sp. stuff. All that's better is the new 11-sp, but that comes at a significanly higher cost to upgrade due to very limited compatibility.

Given the above responses, there is no definitive answer to OPs question. They are better for some, and not for others.

You get used to whatever you are riding pretty quickly. The hoods are very different shapes, so it would be prudent to get a feel for the 6700 shape before you spend cash, but again you adapt pretty quickly.

ohexploitable wrote:yo so i'm thinking of grabbing a new pair of shifters to replace my current 105 5600 ones so i can have prettiful under-the-bar cables

Patience. Ultegra is going 11spd so bigger changes are afoot. Wait for the market to settle down a bit or your wheels wear out (if they are not 11spd compatible). Who knows, 105 might go 11spd next year too.

I was just forced to change my rear derailleur and made the jump from 105 5700 to ultegra 6700.

Bike shop said shimano australia ran out of 105 and I could either source my own parts or go tiagra. I went untegra and am now wondering if upgrading the levers and front derailleur is worth it. In a way I was annoyed as I sent the bike to the shop knowing it would cost more but thinking they would fix it quicker than I would, but it took 3 weeks and I paid $140 for what I could have got for $83 off wiggle!!

anyway I digress, is it worth the change, I have done 6000km with my current kit and am not really a fan of having a mixed groupset so I wonder if its worth upgrading levers?

The OP was talking about replacing the shift levers. Whether you get better shifting is very much a matter of opinion as seen by the responses. But what is beyond question is that the braking is MUCH better. If you keep the existing brake calipers you don't get the full benefit of it, but if you can afford a bit more for the brake calipers as well it is a massive improvement.

jacks1071 wrote:Whatever you get used to will feel good. Anything new may feel odd for a while but give it some time.

there is alot of truth in this.

I just moved form 5600 to campag. After a couple of weeks, the campy feels perfect.

I decided to ride the old road to and from work now its not raining and one thing I have to say, 5600 shifting is sooo light, crisp and easy. But no matter what I do my hands just are not comfortable on 5600 now.

I have never felt comfortable with the 5600 brakes, so much so I think I have developed a bit of a psychological braking issue. If the 5700 brakes are indeed a noticable upgrade, I say that trumps any average shifting.

I ride 5700 on my commuter and 4600 (yes.. Tiagra) on my weekend roadie and tbh I prefer the light feel of the 4600. Especially on the front (it has a 6700 front derailleur) . The difference isn't *as*apparent on the RD.

I do like the clean look of the 5700 though.

As for brakes, Swissstop pads made a massive difference to the 4600 calipers too. My 5700 commuter has discs - which are also great.

My Caad10 has 6700 and the Defy has 7800. The 7800 is smoother and requires slightly less effort, but the 6700, whilst more mechanical in feeling, is just as good in use. Set up and maintenance also play a part IMO.